come until we knew where to strike. Taken together as the two mottoes
were first printed, this meaning is obvious. The delay was to be for the
purpose of "taking counsel."

Tract No. 1, excellent as it is, shows a sense of the evil, but gives no
indication of the remedy. Its contents are commonplace, and in no sense
characteristic of the Society. The men who were to make its reputation
had not yet found it out, and at this stage our chief characteristic was
a lack of self-confidence unusual amongst revolutionaries. We had with
considerable courage set out to reconstruct society, and we frankly
confessed that we did not know how to go about it.

The next meeting to which we need refer took place on May 16th. The
minutes merely record that Mr. Rowland Estcourt read a paper on "The
Figures of Mr. Mallock," but a pencil note in the well-known handwriting
of Bernard Shaw has been subsequently added: "This meeting was made
memorable by the first appearance of Bernard Shaw."

On September 5th Bernard Shaw was elected a member, and at the following
meeting on September 19th his first contribution to the literature of
the Society, Pamphlet No. 2, was read. The influence of his intellectual
outlook was immediate, and already the era of "highest moral
possibilities" seems remote. Tract No. 2 was never reprinted and the
number of copies in existence outside public libraries is small: it is
therefore worth reproducing in full.

THE FABIAN SOCIETY

17 Osnaburgh Street, Regent's Park
Fabian Tract No. 2

A MANIFESTO

"For always in thine eyes, O liberty,
Shines that high light whereby the world is saved;
And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee."

London:
George Standring, 8 & 9 Finsbury Street, E.C. 1884.

A MANIFESTO

THE FABIANS are associated for spreading the following opinions held
by them and discussing their practical consequences.

That under existing circumstances wealth cannot be enjoyed without
dishonour or foregone without misery.

That it is the duty of each member of the State to provide for his or
her wants by his or her own Labour.

That a life interest in the Land and Capital of the nation is the
birthright of every individual born within its confines and that
access to this birthright should not depend upon the will of any
private person other than the person seeking it.

That the most striking result of our present system of